Marvel’s “Avengers vs. X-Men” Party Planning

Taking a cue from DC's New 52 release parties, Marvel puts the same spin on their 2012 event.

The midnight release of Justice League #1, the first issue of DC's New 52 initiative, made it a very big success for comic shops around the country who made a party out of it. Scads of national news coverage may also have played a role, but it turned out to be a pretty fun hit. So apparently, Marvel has decided to make an even bigger deal out of their 2012 event Avengers vs. X-Men – at least for comic book retailers.

Comic shops will have the option of either choosing to support the Avengers or the X-Men, and they'll receive a "party kit" to help them celebrate the release of the first issue of the event on Tuesday, April 3rd at 8pm, the night before its release. Parts of the kit – including flyers, postcards, mini-posters, discounts, specialized comics, etc. – will be for everybody, but then they'll get team-specific (depending on their choice of support) items like pins and variant comics and "shelf-talkers."

“We’ve never had a bigger story than Avengers vs X-Men and we’re backing retailers with the biggest incentives you’ve ever seen through the Avengers vs, X-Men Launch Parties,” said David Gabriel, Marvel Senior Vice-President of Sales. “Whether it’s advertising, promotional material or limited edition variant covers, every one of our valued retailer partners will be able to get the word out to both their regular customers and new fans about this comic event and the exciting Avengers vs. X-Men Launch Parties. Some stores will choose to side with the Avengers and some will side with the X-Men, but I can guarantee one thing – Marvel will make sure all of them have everything they need to make Avengers vs. X-Men #1 their top selling comic of the year.”

So, will you go to your comic shop and hang out there for four hours waiting for the chance to buy the next big event book featuring yet another fight between superheroes? If so, here's the full list of what you can expect.

All retailers who opt into the parties & choose a team will receive the following as part of the Avengers vs. X-Men Party Kit: